Shelby Seu

I paint large-scale portraits – intimate and vulnerable depictions of myself and the people who hold significance in my life. The subjects are depicted with abundant detail, romanticized, and immersed in a dream-like or unnamable space completed with symbolic objects, holding the quality of artefacts.

My intent is to create a feeling through paint which translates the energy of subjects and objects so that they can be felt and seen in a way that amplifies our everyday experience of them, and to emphasize the often-ignored connection between ourselves within the wider scope of nature and the cosmos. For me, paintings function as portals which pull the threads of our world together and create a fabric of time and emotion that can communicate the subconscious and the interconnected tales of our lived experiences.